The folding trailer – excuse me, trailer tent – is on the rise. The sales figures are soaring, just like those of caravans and motorhomes, but continues to rise. And there isn’t enough for everyone.
In Leimuiden, sales manager Waldo Hulsker had a caravan on offer on a Friday morning, now just over a week ago. He called the next person on his waiting list. In the afternoon the caravan was sold. They sell like hot cakes.
Strangely enough, he’s not necessarily happy about that. Because there are too few caravans to meet the demand. And those who have little or nothing to sell do not take full advantage of the need for caravans, motorhomes and folding trailers. In addition, it is also difficult to carry out all repairs on its customers’ caravans – parts are scarce due to corona and now also due to the war in Ukraine. “Some producers had to rent additional premises to store caravans that, for example, only need a sink. Sometimes it is even difficult to get the right nuts delivered. If the supplier has a green checkmark that they are available, you still have to wait for it.”
Sounding numbers
Yet behind this story there are resounding figures, knows Hans Louwers of the Kampeer en Caravan Industrie (KCI). He sees the sales figures continue to rise: the sale of motorhomes by 29 percent, caravans by 24 percent and folding trailers also by 24 percent. The holiday fleet in the Netherlands has thus increased to 425,000 caravans, 165,000 motorhomes and around 100,000 folding trailers.
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The increase in the latter group is striking, says Louwers, but also explainable. “We see that the low and light trailer tent is a good option for hybrid cars.” You read that right, trailer tent. The old-fashioned folding trailer has started to grow under a new name. “It has all become a bit hipper, there is a lot of innovation. That is why not everyone thinks the name folding trailer fits. They are lighter and faster to set up than before. You used to do that in an afternoon, now you can do it in five minutes. There is really a revival, production is being scaled up for sale throughout Europe.” Hence the name trailer tent: a folding trailer sounds a bit difficult internationally.
camping frontrunner
But even if demand is increasing in Europe and shortages are increasing here, the Netherlands remains the undisputed camping frontrunner. Louwers (he himself is going to Denmark this summer): ,,We are still world leader and corona has only helped with popularity. At the beginning of 2020 we were still nervous about what would happen, now we see that the people who have gone camping due to the pandemic continue to camp. You can go wherever you want, in your own bubble, not depending on plane flights that go or don’t. 95 percent of people say they want to go out again.”
Even though for some it is still questionable whether that will work soon. Hulsker has a caravan under his care that needs a thorough overhaul. “They wanted it to be ready for Easter. This will probably not work with the delivery times of parts. Pentecost then, they said. But if we’re going to make it…”
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